Like the project plan, the city plan is NOT a required deliverable in the Future City Competition. We can't guarantee that you will win an award if you make one. However, making a city plan will make it easier to write your essay, write your city narrative, run the virtual city simulation, build your scale model, and prepare your presentation. We will use outlines and a worksheet to help you think of what you want to put in your city. Outlines are lists that organize your thinking. You do not have to do everything that we show you. Choose from the outlines only those things that you think are important for your city.

City Plan

You should look at your city plan in two ways. First, look at things that you can see in a city; streets, buildings, airports, railroads, etc. Second, look at the community (people) and its needs. The ability to meet the community's needs drives the size and building of the city. For example, there are many ruins from Native American civilizations and ghost towns in Arizona that no longer met their community's needs. Let's look at what you can see.

Geography

The first thing we think about a city are the things that we can see. Let's build our city plan from the ground up. Let's first look at the geography. Does your city have mountains, beaches, waterways, or forest land? If so, where are they located in the city (north side, west side, central, etc.)? How big are they? Are the waterways connected? Are the waterways natural or man-made? Do you have parks or golf courses? This is just a partial list of the questions you can ask about your city's geography.

Infrastructure

Next, let's look at the infrastructure. The infrastructure consists of roads, highways, and bridges; mass transit, railroads and airports; clean water delivery systems; waste management systems; and electric, gas, communications, and cable TV lines. How are your roads and highways connected? Do your highways connect to places outside your city? Do you have railroads? Are they diesel, electric, maglev, or a new technology? Where is your airport? Do the aircraft still use jet technology? Do your clean water delivery systems and waste management systems have water treatment plants? Where are your energy production facilities? Are your energy transmission lines above, below ground or through the air? Again, these are just a few examples of the questions you can ask your team about your city.

Buildings

Now let's look at the most visible part of our city, the buildings. Your city must have hospitals; how many and where? Does your city have commercial (office) buildings? Are they located together centrally or are they scattered in locations all over the city? Where are your retail (shopping malls, grocery stores, big box stores, etc.) located? Where are your residences (houses, condos, and apartments) located? Are they near retail and commercial buildings? Where are your entertainment venues (sports stadiums, theaters, restaurants, etc.) located? Are they easily accessible? Does your city have colleges and universities? Where are they? How big are they? Last, where and how many government buildings are in your city? For instance, do you have a City Hall, libraries, government offices, etc.? We've finished looking at the things that you can see in your city, but there are more city design questions that you can ask. Now let's look at the community that lives there.